Takeaways

• UN Secretary-General António Guterres says humanity has missed the 1.5°C climate target, warning of irreversible “tipping points.”
• He urges world leaders to act urgently at COP30 to drastically cut emissions and support Indigenous-led climate action.
• Guterres calls for a “change of course” to limit the overshoot and return to 1.5°C by the end of the century.

Humanity has failed to keep global heating within the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has warned, calling for urgent action before the situation spirals into irreversible damage.

In an exclusive interview ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, Guterres said it is now “inevitable” that the world will overshoot the 1.5°C threshold, with “devastating consequences” for ecosystems and communities across the planet.

“The truth is that we have failed to avoid an overshoot above 1.5°C in the next few years,” he said. “And going above this limit has devastating consequences. Some of these devastating consequences are tipping points, be it in the Amazon, be it in Greenland, or western Antarctica, or the coral reefs.”

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A call for immediate action at COP30

Guterres emphasized that the priority at COP30 must be to “change course” to ensure the overshoot is as brief and shallow as possible. “We don’t want to see the Amazon as a savannah. But that is a real risk if we don’t change course and if we don’t make a dramatic decrease of emissions as soon as possible,” he said.

The past decade has been the hottest in recorded history, largely driven by the continued burning of fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and gas. Yet, global commitments to cut emissions remain inadequate. Fewer than a third of the world’s nations have submitted updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and current pledges fall far short of what’s required.

“From those [NDCs] received until now, there is an expectation of a reduction of emissions of 10%. We would need 60% [to stay within 1.5 °C]. So overshooting is now inevitable,” Guterres said.

Rebalancing global climate leadership

Guterres urged governments to strengthen the voices of Indigenous communities and civil society at global climate summits. He said Indigenous peoples are “the best guardians of nature” and should be central to shaping future climate policy.

Brazil will introduce a key initiative at COP30, i.e., the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, aiming to raise $125 billion for forest protection, with a fifth of the funds directed to Indigenous territories.

“The era of fossil fuels is ending,” Guterres said, stressing that investing in renewable energy is not only a moral imperative but also an economic one. “We are seeing a renewables revolution, and the transition will inevitably accelerate and there will be no way in which humankind will be able to use all the oil and gas already discovered.”

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Hope amid urgency

While Guterres admitted the failure to meet the Paris target, he expressed hope that global temperatures could be brought back down by the end of the century, but only if nations act decisively now.

“I will never give up on my commitment to climate action, on my commitment to biodiversity, on my commitment to the protection of nature, on my commitment to help and support all the democratic movements that around the world are fighting and fighting hard to preserve the most precious possession that we have, which is our mother nature.”

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Source: The Guardian